Liquid Television is an animation showcase broadcast on MTV from 1991 to 1995. It launched several high-profile original cartoons, including Beavis and Butt-Head and Æon Flux. Other recurring segments include "The Art School Girls of Doom", The Specialists, and Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective. Independent animators and artists created most of the material specifically for the show, and some previously produced segments were compiled from festivals such as Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation.
The first season of Liquid Television also aired on BBC Two in co-production with MTV. Ultimately, MTV commissioned three seasons of the show, produced by Colossal Pictures. The show was eventually succeeded by Cartoon Sushi. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the theme music.
The show was broadcast in Canada on MuchMusic, in Asia on Channel V, in Australia on SBS and in New Zealand on TV3.
History Many animation pieces were adapted from Art Spiegelman's comic compilation, RAW. RAW features underground cartoonists such as Mark Beyer, Richard Sala, and Peter Bagge. In particular, Dog-Boy by Charles Burns was based on the artist's series from RAW.
Due to the extensive use of licensed music throughout the series (many episodes begin with a contemporary music video being "liquified"), full episodes of Liquid Television have not been broadcast since their original run. Selected segments from the series, including the debut of Æon Flux, were released on two VHS tapes in the late 1990s as The Best of Liquid Television. A collection volume, Wet Shorts (The Best of Liquid Television), with the content of the two VHS tapes, was released on DVD in 1997.
Credits Japhet Asher – Executive Producer/Creative Director Prudence Fenton – Executive Producer/Story Editor Mark Mothersbaugh – Composer, Theme Music XAOS Inc. – Title Sequences, Liquid Lips, Liquid Eyes, End Credits Bed A BIG Pictures & Noyes & Laybourne Collaboration Produced by (Colossal) Pictures for MTV & BBC-TV
Series overview
Episodes Season 1 (1991) No. Original air date Summary1June 2, 1991 Open: Robert Palmer "Addicted to Love" Soap Opera "A Steamy Scene" Buzz Box Grinning Evil Death Æon Flux Invisible Hands (by Richard Sala) Lea Press on Limbs Stick Figure Theatre "John Wayne in Angel and the Bad Man" Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars "Sinead O'Connor" The Art School Girls of Doom "Drummer" Psycho-Gram "Serum" (serialized throughout episode)2June 2, 1991 Open: John Denver PSA Winter Steele "Eat Crow" Invisible Hands Stick Figure Theatre "Mister Alfred Hitchcock" Rocky (by Malcolm Bennett) Footwork "Dog Flirting" Dog Brain (by J. Falconer) Dangerous Puppets Cut-Up Camera "Aerobics Instructor" Excerpt from Joy Street Weird (by Derek Philips) Æon Flux Psycho-Gram "Hostage" (serialized throughout episode)3June 9, 1991 Open: Faith No More "Epic" Soap Opera "Diandra Wastes Away" Buzz Box (a short film by David Daniels) Snookles (by Juliet Stroud) Stick Figure Theatre "Edmond O'Brien in D.O.A." Cut-Up Camera "Roller Coaster" Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars "Sylvester Stallone" Invisible Hands Prophet & Loss (by Jonathan Bairstow) Black Hula (by Marv Newland) The Art School Girls of Doom "Beach" Beach Chair (by Pixar) Æon Flux Psycho-Gram "Operative X" (serialized throughout episode)4June 16, 1991 Open: Dental Health Winter Steele "Ball of Communion" Jac Mac and Rad Boy "Go!" Footworks "Scoring" Dangerous Puppets The Thing What Lurked in the Tub Invisible Hands Monk's Purpose Stick Figure Theatre "Madonna in Express Yourself" Æon Flux Psycho-Gram "Music Industry" (serialized throughout episode)5June 23, 1991 Open: The B-52's "Love Shack" Soap Opera "Caught in the Act" Push Comes to Shove (Enemies) (by Bill Plympton) (serialized throughout episode) Cut-Up Camera "Pizza Delivery" Face Like a Frog – Mystic Knights "Don't Go in the Basement" Invisible Hands Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars "George Michael" Stick Figure Theatre "José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac" The Art School Girls of Doom "The Bra" They Might Be Giants "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" Æon Flux episode 5 (bug in glass, cracker spread, news show) Psycho-Gram "Suburban Housewife" (serialized throughout episode)6June 30, 1991 Open: Chalk test bars and tone Winter Steele "Stupid Hippies" Cut-Up Camera "Elevator" Invisible Hands Stick Figure Theatre "Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life" Æon Flux (entire first season + episode 6) Psycho-Gram "Time Travel" (serialized throughout episode)
Season 2 (1992) No. Original air date Summary7September 24, 1992 Open: Uncle Louie's Travels (by Drew Friedman) (serialized throughout episode) Æon Flux "Gravity" The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo Beavis and Butt-Head "Frog Baseball" (by Mike Judge) The Specialists Winter Steele "Soft Heart, Hard Alcohol" Stick Figure Theatre "Night of the Living Dead" Dog-Boy (by Charles Burns)8October 1, 1992 Open: The Safety Twins Bobby & Billy "Let's Go to the Party!" Wishful Thinking (by Candy Guard) Dog-Boy The Specialists Office Space (by Mike Judge) The Listener (by Chris Landreth) Was (Not Was) "Hello Dad, I'm in Jail" Directed and Produced by Christoph Simon Copyright 1988 Wishful Thinking (by Candy Guard) Part 2 Glove Story (Animated & Directed by Miles Flanagan, Mole Hill, Mark Slater) Æon Flux "Night" (Renamed "Mirror" on the Æon Flux DVD collection) Written, Designed, Produced and Directed by Peter Chung9October 8, 1992 Open: Concert (excerpt from a short film by Ondrej Rudavsky) Joe Normal (Written/Directed by Stephen Holman) Part 1 Was (Not Was) "What Up, Dog?" Copyright 1987 Speedbump the Roadkill Possum "Slipp'ry When Wet" Doktor Züm "Cafe Le Bad" The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo Meggamorphosis (by Sean Schur, featuring the voices of Tim Curry as "The Snake" and Annie Potts as The "Egg") Stick Figure Theatre "Wm. Shakespeare's Henry V" Joe Normal (Written/Directed by Stephen Holman) Part 2 The Specialists "Anti Matter World" Part 2/"Necator" Part 1 Bobby & Billy "Winter Fun" The Killing of an Egg (Animation by Paul Driessen) Dog-Boy "Date with Rondy" Part 1 Joe Normal (Written/Directed by Stephen Holman) Part 310October 15, 1992 Open: Stick Figure Theatre "Mr. Jimi Hendrix performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" (Woodstock, 1969)" Doktor Züm "Typical Records" Elvis Meets the Spider People From Hell Winter Steele "All Men Suck (Except Crow)" Dog-Boy "Date with Rondy" Part 2 Getting to Know Each Other (by Candy Guard) Was (Not Was) "Earth to Doris" Copyright 1986 The Honky Problem (by Mike Judge) Bobby & Billy "Camping Out" Bob the Frog in "Burp" At the Beach (From Feggorama) The Specialists "Necator Part 2"/"Fifi Breakout" Part 111October 22, 1992 Open: The Running Man (excerpt) The Specialists Stick Figure Theatre "Sergei Eisenstein's silent classic The Battleship Potemkin (USSR, 1925)" Flugbild (by Thomas Meyer-Hermann) Ladies (by Candy Guard) Dog-Boy The Running Man (by Yoshiaki Kawajiri)12October 29, 1992 Open: The Twelve Dangers of Skydiving (serialized throughout episode) Bobby & Billy "Soap Box Derby" Speedbump the Roadkill Possum "Batt'ry-fied" Dog-Boy Doktor Züm "Atom Bomb Factory" Stick Figure Theatre "The Crash of the Hindenburg May 6, 1937" Let's Chop Soo-E (by Eric Pigors) Winter Steele "Rhinestones 'n' Concussions" The Specialists13November 5, 1992 Open: Door #8 The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo This is Not Frank's Planet (by Mike Wellins) Æon Flux "Leisure" Dog-Boy In the Aquarium (Excerpt) Stick Figure Theatre "Jack Nicholson and Boris Karloff in The Terror" The Specialists Koko's Earth Control (by Max Fleischer, 1928) (new music and sound effects added, abridged)14November 12, 1992 Open: Devil's Angels (trailer) Smoking Section (Feggo) The End (by Walter Cavazzuti) Heads Winter Steele "F.T.W." The Specialists Pickpocket (Feggo) The Street Sweeper Speedbump the Roadkill Possum "Buck-a-Roost" The Hitchhiker Beware of Dog (Feggo) Dog-Boy15November 19, 1992 Open: Theatrical trailer for Truck Turner The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo Conversations (serialized throughout episode) Dog-Boy The Specialists Beavis and Butt-Head "Peace, Love & Understanding" (by Mike Judge) Bobby & Billy "Earning Money" Æon Flux "Tide"16November 24, 1992 Open: Amore Baciami The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo Æon Flux "War" The Specialists Dog-Boy Stick Figure Theatre "Miss Bette Davis in Of Human Bondage" Winter Steele "Desperate Beauty" Amore Baciami (sung by Nuccia Bongiovanni)
Season 3 (1993–95) No. Original air date Summary17December 31, 1993 Open: Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part one" The Blockheads "Mall" Crazy Daisy Ed "To Officer with Love" Gas Planet Smart Talk with Raisin (created by John R. Dilworth) The Dangwoods "Nightmare in Trailer City"18July 6, 1994 Open: The Day of the Dead Guy Uncle Louie' Party Anyway (created by Run Wrake; serialized throughout episode) Technological Threat Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part two" One Less Ant The Bill and Willis Show (created by Wayne White)19July 13, 1994 Open: Strangers in Paradise Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective Nightwatchman Nietzsche Pops Beat Dedication Doctor X vs Mister Y Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part three" Crazy Daisy Ed "Fast, Loud, Dumb and Proud" Sound Asleep20July 27, 1994 Open: Uncle Louie "Blind Date" Genie Junkie (Note: The Subaluwa! sound effect performed by a sumo wrestler with vocal effects done by Lee Tockar eventually made its way to Ed, Edd n Eddy (a program that eventually was also created by Danny Antonucci as an occasional sound effect)) Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part four" Cat and Mouse at (The) Home The Blockheads "TV" The Chore Human Bomb21October 3, 1994 Open: Krazy Teens USA Rico & Klein Honey Bunny (serialized throughout episode) Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part five" Crazy Daisy Ed "Let's Go to the Stinkin' Movies" Balloon Guy Sweat Green Beret22January 1, 1995 Open: Medallion Love Crazy Daisy Ed "Hill Bomb Skate Sniper" Swine Cowboy Stick Figure Theatre "The Naked Edge part six" Autoguard 2000 The Big City Beat Brad Dharma: Psychedelic Detective The Invisible Man in "Blind Love"
Season 4 (2014) No. Original air date Summary1 May 15, 2014 Most Days Tiny Chainsaw (by Joel Veitch) Gummie Chernobyl Bedtime Stories with Abraham Willosby I Sick Bruce Institutional Mechanisms Mac & Cheese Disco Destroyer 01 Liquid Television Valentine We Are the Universe From We Can Do It! Cougar Bike Mini Sketchbook Animation 010–019 Best Song Ever (by Wallpaper.)2 May 22, 2014 The Lost Coin Let's Make Out The Long Legs 6 - "Nick the Cockroach" Rad Fluffy McCloud Haerskogen Disco Destroyer 02 Slander Heal Everything Heal Everyone from We Can Do It! You Came Out (by We Have Band) Playing For Keeps Bedtime Stories With Abraham Willosby II Laser Beamer Boy (by Milgrom)3 May 29, 2014 16Bit 'Dinosaurs' The New Leeds Account Reverse The Long Legs 1 - "Fatherly Advice" Change Your Relationship to Nature from We Can Do It! Drifters Anna Mammoth Anaconda Outside the Box Dad Teaches Me to Shave Playing for Keeps Wisdom of the Lurkers Untitled Yellow Éclats de Suie Odin's Afterbirth 1 Crystal Antler's - Two Way Mirror4 June 5, 2014 Bombguy Freatures The Subway Time Metal Wisdom Of The Lurkers Magic Hole Hello Bottle Story from North America Your Heart Is A Prism from We Can Do It! Plunge Dirk Odin's Afterbirth 2 Too Many Words5 June 12, 2014 Delta Heavy - 'Hold Me' The Chair Wisdom Of The Lurkers Dress Dancing Animals The Long Legs 10 - "Larry and Christopher" Chernokids Howard Booty Clap Fleet Foxes - 'The Shrine / An Argument' Odin's Afterbirth 3
Revival